by Leon Janssen

Briana Waters, a 32-year-old violin teacher and mother, was indicted in 2006 for aiding the arson of the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH) in 2001. Briana was charged toward the end of a string of indictments stretching back to December 2005, when the FBI’s “Operation Backfire” made numerous arrests for a series of ELF/ALF actions from 1996 to 2001. Briana went to trial facing five counts: one charge for conspiracy, two overlapping charges for arson, and two charges involving use of a destructive device in a crime of violence, which carries a 30-year . . .

Briana Waters with partner John and daughter Kalliope

by the Olympia Civil Liberties Resource

On February 11, 2008, trial began in the federal government’s case against Briana Waters. Ms. Waters, an Evergreen State College graduate and former Olympian, is accused of conspiring to set fire to the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture in 2001. Specifically, the government accuses Ms. Waters of acting as a lookout. Ms. Waters, a violin teacher and 32-year-old mother of a little girl, steadfastly maintains her innocence.

by Melissa Roberts

It should come as no shock that the U.S. government has perfected the art of deception while simultaneously criminalizing dissent. The agenda is clear: the U.S. government intends to protect those with wealth and power, and will do so by any means necessary. The past year alone has revealed a campaign which includes: warrantless wiretapping; Presidential "signing statements" contradicting laws passed by Congress; and secretive "declassification" of information with intent to harm high-level dissenters. In short, those in power whose interests revolve around short-term profits . . .